Term
| Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) |
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Definition
| Transition Stage between the mild cognitive decline of normal aging and more serious problems of dementia; about 50% progress to dementia. |
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Term
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Definition
| Progressive decline in cognitive function due to damage or disease in the body beyond what might be expected from normal aging |
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Term
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Definition
| The acute, common symptomatic manifestation of early brain dysfunction, for any reason; rapid, fluctuating course |
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Term
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Definition
| the most common form of dementia, with initial problems in learning, memory, and planning that expand to include language, recognition, personality changes, and motor deficits |
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Term
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Definition
| In this context, the tendency for someone with dementia to wander with a lack of apparent purpose, often becoming confused or disoriented |
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Term
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Definition
| An alteration in behavior in sync with the circadian rhythm that co-occurs with wandering, which may be due to sensory deprivation from low light conditions in the evening and fatigue |
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Term
| Acetylcholinesterase Inhibitors |
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Definition
| molecules that block the breakdown of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine |
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Term
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Definition
| A molecule that blocks overstimulation of NMDA receptor (which has a role in long term potentiation) |
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Term
| Dementia with Lewy Bodies (DLB) |
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Definition
| Dementia characterized by fluctuating cognition with great variation in attention and alertness from hour to hour, recurrent visual hallucinations, and the motor features of parkinsonism. Lewybodies are clumps of proteins in neurons. |
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Term
| Fronto-Temporal Lobar Dementia (FTLD) |
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Definition
| heterogeneous dementia disorders associated with atrophy in the frontal lobes and temporal lobes, with sparing of the parietal and occipital lobes. Symptoms include personality changes, problems with executive function and language problems with naming or fluency. (Subtypes: fronto-temporal, semantic, progressive non-fluent) |
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Term
| Posterior Cortical Atrophy (PCA) |
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Definition
| A dementia with initial prominent visual symptoms such as problems with visual field defects, contrast sensitivity, color discrimination, and feature recognition of complex objects, acalculia (loss of math skills), and little initial decline in memory |
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Term
| Vascular/Multi-Infarct Dementia |
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Definition
| A dementia with symptoms including problems with recent memory, wandering, shuffling walk, loss of bladder or bowl control, emotional liability, difficultly with instructions, and problems handling money. |
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Term
| Dementia Pugilistica (Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy) |
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Definition
| A severe form of chronic traumatic brain injury, resulting in declining mental ability, problems with memory, parkinsonism, tremors, lack of coordinations, speech problems, unsteady gait, and inappropriate or explosive behavior. |
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Term
| Wernicke's Encephalopathy |
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Definition
| the abrupt onset of encephalopathy (brain disorder), ophthalmoplegia (eye paralysis), and ataxia (loss of coordination) induced by thiamine deficiency, usually from extreme dietary deficiency, often associated with chronic alcoholism |
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Term
| Creutzfeld-Jakob Disease (transmissible spongiform encephalopathy) |
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Definition
| The most common human prion disease, with symptoms including decline in cognition with memory loss, personality changes, hallucinations, and problems with speech, gait, or coordination. |
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